Human Rights

Fox News is famous for being the “talk over” network. You can see it on shows like Bill O’Reilly, where the host talks over the interviewee when the two cannot agree. The network likes to use interviews to make a point to their viewership, whether or not that point is fair or balanced. But there’s a recent propaganda-like interview with Human Rights Foundation founder Thor Halvorssen that seem to blow up in their face.

During a tense three minutes the hostess tries to get Thor Halvorssen to say that socialism is bad. Of course, the network is taking time to slam socialism because of the insurgent presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders who is a self-avowed democratic socialist. The hostess wastes no time in making her flawed point, asking Thor Halvorssen why socialism is a violation of basic human rights. A cool, calm, and collected Thor Halvorssen spends very little time being shocked or stunned and gets right to work qualifying that statement.

Socialism is not inherently evil, he says. In fact, countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden are shining examples of socialist governments where human rights violations do not occur. Socialism is a form of government that can do good or bad depending on who’s in charge. Separation of power with checks and balances leads to a government for the people and by the people, even if it is socialist. Unchecked unilateral power can allow a dictator to use socialism in order to exploit people. But the Fox News hostess does not want to get bogged down in details and continually tries to make Thor Halvorssen say something bad about socialism.

According to weeklystandard.com, Thor Halvorssen tries to explain the definition of socialism or socialist agendas, but he gets talked over. Frustration leads him to declare his support for Bernie Sanders. The shock hostess squeals, “Why!?” This reddit thread shows how Thor Halvorssen then explained that he does not care what side of the political spectrum you come from and that you have his support if you advocate human rights, unlike Hillary Clinton and the leading Republican candidates. It turns out that Fox News couldn’t even slam Bernie Sanders with a “talk over” interview. It blew up in their face.